


What Glows in the Commonwealth

by gmartinez12



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Gen, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 15:43:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8452162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gmartinez12/pseuds/gmartinez12
Summary: Synopsis: You find a holotape containing the journal entries of a young Brotherhood Squire who was stationed in the Commonwealth in 2287. The Squire was known to have been in contact with the vault dweller known only as "The Sole Survivor" before his disappearance.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Yo! So a friend of mine kind of challenged me to make a short quick Halloween-themed fic set in Fallout 4, so here it is! I always wanted to make a fic about Brotherhood Squires, cuz they're so adorable, but I never thought that this would be the kind of fic I'd do with them
> 
> Not really my best work, but I did have a looot of fun writing it, and it's one of the few non-smut fics I have, so I hope you all enjoy it somehow :p.

 

 

 

** **

 

** What Glows in the Commonwealth **

A Fallout 4 Halloween Fic

By Gmartinez12

 

 

-Begin Holotape-

 

** August 23, 2287: Glowing things are bad things **

 

It’s been a week since we’ve arrived in the commonwealth. One week, and already this place—the Commonwealth—is scaring the crap out of me. I think I asked for it.

They told us that squires weren’t allowed to go out on the field below, but I begged one of the scribes to put in a good word for me so I can help out with setting up the airport we’ve parked the Prydwyn over. I was already twelve years old—they couldn’t say I was just a kid anymore. I can move boxes just as good as anyone in the Brotherhood. 

On day one, I finally stepped foot on land for the first time in weeks. Don’t get me wrong, the Prydwen is nice and all, but it gets cramped in there. I was glad to get out. The feeling didn’t last when a gigantic bug jumped me and the scribe I was with. A nearby initiate shot it with her laser pistol, and that was awesome.

What wasn’t awesome, was that the sound attracted ten more of its buddies from some dark corner—and the place was practically made of dark corners. One of those crawling nightmares was even glowing. _Glowing._

It took three engineers and a knight to exterminate the mess, and I was never so glad to have my nose hurt because of the ozone stench that their laser rifles made.  It was a good thing I was the only squire there, because if the others saw how I was clinging to a lamp post the whole time, they’d never let me hear the end of it.

Day two. It was ghouls.

Of course, I knew what they were. Radiation transformed its victims into mindless shallow abominations of their former selves. They had decayed, mottled skin, a…sort of face, I guess? Yellow eyes and mangled jaws…that’s what they told us. I’ve never _seen_ a ghoul before that day, but now I can confidently say that ghouls didn’t appear to have noses, they smell foul and that I am glad there was this small ventilation shaft that I managed to crawl into when they attacked.

This time, a couple of knights in power armor mowed them down with miniguns. One of the ghoul’s heads fell right by the opening of the shaft I was in. It stared blankly at me with those sunken eyes. Something I remembered was that these things used to be _people_. I’m glad I didn’t eat much for lunch. It made less of a mess when I threw up.

Day four.  There was a ghoul in the control tower. The last guy that went after it came back with most of his armor in several pieces. They didn’t let let me in, so I didn’t see, but they said that it was _glowing_. There was really something about this place and glowing things that tried to kill you. The other squires never left the Prydwen, and they mocked me for running away and not picking up a blaster to join the fight. I’d like them to say that again once they wake up to a giant glowing bug laying eggs on their faces.

 

** September 11, 2287: Meeting Paladin Danse and the Sole Survivor **

He’s here, he’s finally here! _The_ Paladin Danse is here!

Paladin Danse is a legend with the Brotherhood. Of course, even us squires have heard of his incredible story. Of how his combat ability was second only to Elder Maxson himself, about how he led a squad into the Commonwealth, the unknown, for the Brotherhood. I’ve never met him in person, but he is definitely my hero.

The entire reason why the Brotherhood and the Prydwen were here in the first place was because of a garbled distress signal from Paladin Danse. We couldn’t tell where he was, just that he needed help, and bad. Now, he’s here, proudly walking on the Prydwen’s deck in his battle-worn power armor for the first time since his patrol left for the Commonwealth.

As he passed me, I said, “Ad Victoriam, Paladin Danse, sir!” and then he nodded at me! This has got to be the best day of my life!

The Paladin wasn’t aSole, though. There was a man with him—Paladin Danse was showing him around. He was wearing this weird blue jumpsuit and a jumbled mix of armor on his body, from leather to steel to something that looked like standard Brotherhood material. Apparently, this wastelander singlehandedly saved Paladin Danse’s patrol all on his own. There was talk about him joining the Brotherhood. But more than that, I had to wonder…just how much more awesome was he to have saved the Paladin without any help—to have beaten things that Paladin Danse couldn’t?

They called him…”The Sole Survivor”.

 

** September 18, 2287: What are synths? **

Squires were finally allowed to go on the field to gain some experience. I would have been really excited, except that I’ve already seen a bit of what the Commonwealth had to throw at you, and I wasn’t terribly eager to meet those things again.

When Captain Kells briefed me that I was chosen for deployment, he told me to wait for the knight that was assigned to me. When I got there, it wasn’t just some knight. There, I was met by none other than Paladin Danse himself. But it wasn’t just him—he was with the Sole Survivor, now a Brotherhood Knight. He now wore our customary uniform with a full set of Brotherhood combat armor. My first mission, and it was going to be with Paladin Danse and the great hero who saved him!

Travelling with such amazing soldiers like the Survivor and the Paladin was exactly the kind of thrill I thought it would be. The survivor was really smart, and he modified his own weapons. The Paladin taught me the basics of combat. They told me about the creatures of the Commonwealth. Then, they talked about Synths.

Synths…like robots, but worse. They were intelligent, almost like humans, but still all machine. Supposedly, some of them look like horrible metal skeletons with teeth and eyeballs. Some had a kind  of plastic skin that looked like mannequins.

But most terrifying of all…there were synths that looked exactly like humans. They were supposed to be human in every way and talk like normal people. But inside them is a computer taking orders from something called The Institute. If the person you were talking to was a synth, you’d never know. Friends, family, brothers, any time, any day—they could be synths, but you’d never know. The people you trusted most could already be a robot waiting to kill you in your sleep, and you’d never know.

I shuddered at the thought. The Survivor must have seen how spooked I was because he patted my head and then smiled. He said that as long as he was there, nothing was gonnna get me. I could see why Paladin Danse trusted this man so much. He was kind, loyal, brave…and I just feel safe with him.

I believed in him.

 

** September 30, 2287: His Squire **

I saw the Survivor more and more. Every now and then he’d be in the Prydwen, and I’d salute at him whenever he passed by my post. More than that though, I was getting more and more field missions, and I was always getting paired with him. He always asks for me, Captain Kells said. It was something I was proud of. Being able to help the Survivor was my highest honor.

These days, he didn’t travel with Paladin Danse anymore. It was just me and him, and it was enough.

There was a time we had to clear out a building full of ghouls. I told him about the first time I ever saw ghouls, back at the airport. I didn’t say it outright, but he knew I was scared of them. It didn’t matter because he fought them all off, all on his own. He was a one man army, using a bunch of weapons I’ve never seen before, switching gear so fast it was like he was pulling them out of thin air. He was so amazing to watch.

Another time, it took us almost a week to complete our objective. Not because it was hard, but because he needed to do other things first. Helping other people who needed it, mostly. I learned that he was also the leader of the Minutemen, a group of people that help others in need. It was amazing. Every one of them called him their ‘general’.

Sometimes, we’d have to camp out on the road for a night. I felt so safe, sleeping next to him. I knew that nothing would come after us as long as I was with him. Then he took me to a settlement, this one with high, fortified walls and even gun turrets! He said that this was one of the settlements that he’d built himself, and all the people there saluted him like he was their leader, too. There were a lot of his settlements all around the Commonwealth, he said, and dozens of people that he helped build homes for. In my eyes, he was the greatest hero who ever lived. Maybe, even more than Paladin Danse.

One time, I asked him why he always picked me to be the squire that he’d take out on field missions. He told me about his son Shaun, and about how he’d do absolutely anything to get him back. I reminded him of what having a son was like, he said.

I wasn’t his son—he didn’t even know my name yet. But really, he never needed to. I was _his_ squire. And that was all that mattered.

 

** October 20, 2287: Where is he? **

I’m getting nervous about staying in the Commonwealth. Every day, I keep hearing whispers from the Knights, Engineers, Initiates, all of them…whispering about synths. I overheard some of them talking about how Elder Maxson said that we needed to destroy all the synths and the Institute. More and more soldiers from the field told stories about those mechanical terrors, about metal skeletons with wires for veins. Everyone was getting nervous that someone could be a synth hiding among us.

It doesn’t help that Paladin Danse went missing—it’s been a few weeks now. Then, after him, the Survivor went missing, too. It’s been so long since I last saw them both. I was getting scared that something had happened to them. Proctor Ingram told me that the Survivor was on an extremely important and secret mission behind enemy lines. Does that mean he found the Institute?

 

** October 21, 2287: The Survivor is back! **

Today, I was on a field mission with a different knight. But, it didn’t go so well. Before we even arrived at the target, we were ambushed by hostile wastelanders—raiders. We were outnumbered, and my Knight told me to run while he radioed for reinforcements.

One of the raiders ran after me. He kept shooting at me, but he seemed to be a bad shot, because he kept missing. I tried to hide behind a tree, but he still found me—he had this machete and was just about ready to hack me to pieces. The scariest thing was his face—his expression terrified me. It was hunger, it was joy, it was the worst of both of those combined. He had a deranged cackle that showed his bloody and rotting teeth. He wasn’t a ghoul—he was still human and he could still think. He wanted this, he wanted to kill me. And that was what scared me the most.

I closed my eyes and waited for the pain, but I didn’t feel anything. Instead, I heard a body slump to the floor. I opened my eyes and saw that the Survivor was there—he saved me! He looked…different, though. He was wearing an unnaturally white outfit, with weird white plastic-looking armor. But he saved us today, and I couldn’t care less about what he was wearing.

Later, I asked him where he’d been. He didn’t really answer me, and that was fine—it must have been that secret mission. But he told me something that he sounded really happy about: he was very close to getting his son Shaun back. Even better, he told me that pretty soon, I might be able to meet him.

 

** October 23 2287: It was a lie **

Today, felt like the longest, and worst day of my life. The news broke out pretty fast. The Survivor obtained secret files from the Institute, and Elder Maxson discovered something foul.

Paladin Danse was a synth all along.

He sent the Survivor to eliminate Danse. I didn’t know what to feel about it. The Paladin was my hero…but all this time he was a spy from the enemy, right under our noses. We never knew, never even suspected. And that was what terrified me.

Who else was a synth? How could we tell if we never even suspected Danse was one? Was Captain Kells a synth? Proctor Ingram? Elder Maxson?

After the Survivor left, every man and woman and squire in the Brotherhood was lined up for a physical. They stripped us naked, and poked these instruments in us...in my mouth, ears…everywhere. I don’t think anyone knew what they were doing. But it was all we could to feel like there was something… _anything_ that we could do.

 

** October 30 2287: I’m safe**

Today, the Survivor arrived with the body of a synth. It was the kind that looked like a metal skeleton. Over at the research bay, they did some tests on it and I managed to take a peek. I was so scared that the most I could remember were its eyes…bright, yellow, _glowing_.

They did some more tests on it before I was called for another field mission. I was so glad it was with the Survivor again. He was a Paladin now, and I couldn’t feel safer—even if he did wear some weird-looking armor.

He took me to one of his settlements, and asked me to stay there for a while. It looked a lot nicer than the others I’ve seen. This one looked like a proper home, with sturdy walls, beds and lots of lights. He told me to rest for the night and that we’d continue to our objective in the morning.

I’ll be able to sleep soundly tonight.

** October 31 2287:  **

It’s morning, but it’s not the first time that I woke up. Sometime before the sun came up I was jerked awake by something loud. I thought it was an explosion. I looked around and I saw nothing, not even the Survivor. I was too sleepy to do anything about it though, so I went back to bed.

Now that I was fully awake, I took a look outside. It was raining. I didn’t like it when it was raining because it would make the sky so dark, and I wouldn’t be able to see the Prydwen when I looked to the skies over the airport. The Prydwen was always visible almost from anywhere in the Commonwealth, and seeing it in the sky always made me feel safe. But now though…it wasn’t there. It’s almost like it vanished. The rain wasn’t so bad that I wouldn’t be able to spot it, and that worried me a bit. Maybe I can ask the Survivor if we can go back to the airport.

** October 31 2287:  **

He finally arrived! I haven’t seen the Survivor all day, and I was getting anxious. But finally, here he was! He…wasn’t alone, though. There was a boy with him, dressed in a white suit I’ve never seen before. He looked about my age. He seemed nice.

The Survivor told me that this was Shaun, his son. He had such a happy smile on his face that I couldn’t help but be happy for him, too. I shook Shaun’s hand as I introduced myself. Strangely, his hand was kind of stiff and a little cold. But anyway, I’m sure we can be good friends. Maybe he’d like to be a Brotherhood squire like me.

** October 31 2287:  **

I was wrong. Everything was wrong. I didn’t know, and now I’m dead.

Shaun…I saw him, his eyes…they were yellow.

His eyes were _glowing_.

 

 

-End holotape-

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Yeah, yeah, I know. Gen 3 Synths are not stiff, cold or have yelloe glowing eyes. But I just stretched the plausability a bit for the sake of Halloween XD


End file.
